3.9 kernels - patch for fuseless systems (optional)

Systems that don't have fuse will not be able to use the /usr/lib/vmware/bin/vmware-vmblock-fuse client. These systems will fall back to the original vmblock.ko module, which won't load due to the symbol putname being replaced by __putname:

Using the modified BIOS

If and when you decide to modify the extracted BIOS you can make your virtual machine use it by moving it to ~/vmware/Virtual machine name:

$ mv bios440.rom ~/vmware/Virtual machine name/

then adding the name to the Virtual machine name.vmx file:

~/vmware/Virtual machine name/Virtual machine name.vmx

bios440.filename = "bios440.rom"

Copy-On-Write (CoW)

CoW comes with some advantages, but can negatively affect performance with large files that have small random writes (e.g. database files and virtual machine images):

$ chattr +C ~/vmware/Virtual machine name/Virtual machine name.vmx

Note: From the chattr man page: "For btrfs, the C flag should be set only on new or empty files. If set on a file which already has data blocks, it is undefined when the blocks assigned to the file will be fully stable. If set on a directory, only new files will be affected."

Using DKMS to manage the modules

The Dynamic Kernel Module Support (DKMS) can be used to manage Workstation modules and to void from re-running vmware-modconfig each time the kernel changes. The following example uses a custom Makefile to compile and install the modules through vmware-modconfig. Afterwards they are removed from the current kernel tree.

2) The vmware-usbarbitrator binary is segfaulting

This could also mean that the vmware-usbarbitrator binary called in the script is segfaulting:

# vmware-usbarbitrator

Pipe unexpectedly closed.

# vmware-usbarbitrator --info -f

VTHREAD initialize main thread 2 "usbArb" pid 6426
Segmentation fault

This is caused by an empty /etc/arch-release (owned by filesystem). It is used by the service to alter its behavior based on the distribution's release version.

To fix it, add a version string in the form of year.month(.day) (e.g. 2013.06.01).

The installer fails to start

If you just get back to the prompt when opening the .bundle, then you probably have a deprecated or broken version of the VMware installer and you should remove it (you may also refer to the uninstallation section of this article):

# rm -r /etc/vmware-installer

Incorrect login/password when trying to access VMware remotely

VMware Workstation 9 provides the possibility to remotely manage Shared VMs through the vmware-workstation-server service. However, this will fail with the error "incorrect username/password" due to incorrect PAM configuration of the vmware-authd service. To fix it, edit /etc/pam.d/vmware-authd like this:

Issues with ALSA output

The following instructions from Bankim Bhavsar's wiki show how to manually adjust the ALSA output device in a VMware .vmx file. This might help with quality issues or with enabling proper HD audio output:

Suspend/Power off the VM.

Run aplay -L

If you are interested in playing 5.1 surround sound from the guest, look for surround51:CARD=vendor-name,DEV=num. If you are experiencing quality issues, look out for a line starting with front.

Open the Virtual machine name.vmx config file of the VM in a text editor, located under ~/vmware/Virtual machine name/, and edit the sound.fileName field, e.g.: sound.fileName="surround51:CARD=Live,DEV=0". Ensure that it also reads sound.autodetect="FALSE".

Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) is running

Uninstallation

To uninstall VMware you need the product name (either vmware-workstation or vmware-player). To list all the installed products:

$ vmware-installer -l

and uninstall with:

# vmware-installer -u vmware-product

Remember to also disable and remove the vmware service:

# systemctl disable vmware
# rm /etc/systemd/system/vmware.service

You may also want to have a look at the kernel directories in /usr for any leftovers. The now unnecessary #3.7 kernels and up step leaves header directories in /usr/src/ (full path: /usr/src/linux-[kernel name]/include/linux/version.h).

The module directories can be found in /usr/lib/modules/[kernel name]/misc/.